Mortal Kombat R
Forward note Though, the "R" is not officially in the game's title, but this is to not only differ this from the first game, but to point out that despite the working title for it stating "Mortal Kombat 9" but the game is more of a "Revival" than a sequal". ''Summary ''Mortal Kombat R is a tournament fighting game for the Playstation 3. The game was released on April 19 and promises a "back to the basics" kind of MK game with characters from the first 3 Mortal kombat games and being "M" rated Story Taken from Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, where the Emperor of Outworld Shao Kahn defeats all before him and in Final kombat with the God of Thunder & Lightning Raiden. Just as Kahn was about to finish Raiden and lay claim to all of the realms, Raiden used what was left of his broken amulet to warp himself back to the events of the first Mortal Kombat game, there he must alter some of the events of the tournament, Kahn's own tournament and the invasion of Earthrealm by Outworld in order to prevent the events of Armageddon. Gameplay The gameply of Mortal Kombat R is like in Super Street Fighter 4, it goes back to the real basics of tournament fighting which means it's in 2-D movements instead of the annoying 3-D movement in other tournament fighting games of the 3-D period. The fighting engine is (as always with Mortal Kombat) very simple, you can press buttons to perform kombos. In Mortal Kombat R, there's something new, it's called the "X-Ray" move, every fighter has their own unique X-Ray move but it's where the fighter performs a series of kombos that not only do serious damage, but you can see the actuall damage inside the fighter's body (which include the cracking and breaking of bones, the lost of teeth, and the squishing of organs). Of course as in Mortal Kombat, the fighters have their own unique set of Fatalities which (of course) gives the victor the oppertunity to kill his/her defeated opponent in a very graphic fashion, there are also environmental fatalities where the victor throws (or uppercuts) his/her defeated opponent into the environment of the kombat zone they're fighting in, and the to a lesser extent there are also Babalities where thr victor turns his/her defeated opponent into a baby and have a comedic thing that they do as a baby. Game Modes This game has lots of game modes that you can try and play. Fight Mode This is regular arcade mode where you can choose a mode where you can either fight with either just one fighter or 2 with tag ladder mode where it's like the classical "Endurance mode" of the first Mortal Kombat but you can switch fighters during the round. Story Mode Follow Raiden, Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade and others in this revivial of the first 3 Mortal Kombat Games. There are 16 chapters where you play as 16 different characters during the story. Challenge Tower Mode This mode consist of 300 different challenges where you must perform cetain feats in order to proceed. Training Here you can either train your skills against a fighter of your choosing or to try your hand at the classical bonus stages (E.G. Test Your Might, Test Your Sight) as well as new bonus stages such as "Test Your Strike" and "Test Your Luck". Extras Here you can either enter the "Krypt" where you can unlock a truck load of bonus materials or view the individual fighters' endings or the trailers of the game when it was in development. Options Here is where you can change the sound and picture of the game as well as the gameplay. Johnny's Review General Thoughts I've been viewing the fighters' trailers for months before the game's release. I wasn't interested at first (that is before Liu Kang was confirmed) but with it being a retelling of the first Mortal Kombat games (which were classics by the way) this is why I was waiting for a long time to play this game, and when I finally did, let me tell you it was worth the wait. Graphics The graphics in this game were fantastic, the backgrounds were nearly flawless and the 3-D models of the characters were brilliantly done like in Mortal Kombat VS. DC Unoverse the models show real body damage when fighting, this time it's more graphic with blood and even torn skin and clothes. But the realism also has consequences, the life-like images makes the blood and body damge that coems to this game very realistic so it'll turn away some gamers surely. Rating: 8.5 Music The soundtrack of this game have some new tracks in it as well as remade tracks of the previous Mortal Kombat games, which does bring in some nostalgia for the long time Mortal Kombat fans. Though the soundtrack does sound quite good, butcan sometimes feel out of place in the fast paced "kombat" scenes of the game. Rating: 8 Sounds/Voice The sounds in this game are very crisp and adds to the realism of the game (that includes the crushing of rocks, crushing of bones, the splashing of blood and even clashing of metal). The voices are also well done (some of them are from Mortal Kombat VS. DC Universe along with new voices for the other characters. Rating: 9 Gameplay The gameplay is back to where it is (in 2-D movement) which is on common ground for most torunament fighing game fans which is a good sign. Unlike in most Street Fighter games the special moves and kombos are easier to perform and use efficiently. But that can become boring after a while but the gameplay is responisve and very fluid. Rating 8.5 Replay Value This is one of he few games I've played in recent years that has so many game modes and even bonus materials. There is a lot to do in many of the game modes. The Krypt on the other hand has a lot of bonus material to unlock (E.G. Fatalities, Alternate costumes for the fighters, concept art, sketches, etc.). So, there's a lot to do in this game that'll keep you occupied for days. Rating: 10 Final Thoughts As I typed before, this game was definately worth the wait. With "Outstanding" graphics, "Excellent" sounds and extra materials that're "Superb". This game is definatrly recommended. Of course because the game is "M" rated. It's only meant for older gamers. Sorry kids, you'll have to settle for Super Smah Bros. Brawl. Overall Rating: 9